Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera (Oaxaca 1695 - 1768) Mexicanpainter, s. XVIII. He is considered one of the most important painters of his time in New Spain.

Cabrera's works include religious paintings like: grand wall paintings, retablo designs (like Santa Prisca de Taxco), portraits (like Juan de Palafox y Mendoza and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz) and a series of castas ("breed" or "race") paintings. He painted for the Archbishop and for the Jesuit order. Cabrera's painting was influenced by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

"...and clearly delighted in showing how well he could render costume and class within the tight formula of two parents and one child. These paintings may be of greater sociological than aesthetic interest, but they are invaluable and often endearing documents of daily life. In a casta by another artist, for example, set in a family kitchen, we are quietly reminded that the chocolate and tobacco Europeans had come to favor were American products."[1]